Unfortunately, the package you were searching for is not available in Fedora. There are a few common reasons why a package might not be in Fedora's repositories:

Unfortunately, the package you were searching for is not available in Fedora. There are a few common reasons why a package might not be in Fedora's repositories:

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* Fedora does not include software which is [[Package_Not_Found#Patents| encumbered by software patents]].

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* Fedora does not include software that is [[Package_Not_Found#Patents| encumbered by software patents]].

* Fedora does not include proprietary software, only software with an [[Licensing| acceptable license]].

* Fedora does not include proprietary software, only software with an [[Licensing| acceptable license]].

* It is possible that no one has packaged it yet. You might consider adding it to the [[PackageMaintainers/WishList|Package WishList]], or even [[PackageMaintainers/Join|packaging it yourself]]!

* It is possible that no one has packaged it yet. You might consider adding it to the [[PackageMaintainers/WishList|Package WishList]], or even [[PackageMaintainers/Join|packaging it yourself]]!

{{Anchor|MissingCodec}}

{{Anchor|MissingCodec}}

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== Missing Codec ==

== Missing Codec ==

Unfortunately, the codec you were searching for is not available in Fedora. There are a few common reasons why a codec might not be in Fedora's repositories:

Unfortunately, the codec you were searching for is not available in Fedora. There are a few common reasons why a codec might not be in Fedora's repositories:

Revision as of 00:11, 22 October 2008

Why am I seeing this page? If you're seeing this page, it is probably because you tried to search for something in PackageKit, but it could not find what you were looking for in the Fedora repositories. Look at the contents below to find information about specific issues you might encounter.

Later, you go to view your mail on a public computer at the local library. And you get the same dialog box on their computer.

That is the reality for any sound, image, or document format that is encumbered by software patents that require licensing - any application that wishes to view, play, or create them requires paying the patent holders a fee. Normally, software and hardware vendors include this support, but they pass the costs directly onto the consumers in the cost of their software or hardware. For every copy of Microsoft Windows that you buy, or every DVD player that is sold, a portion of that cost goes directly to pay patent licenses; in fact, for DVD players, it can be over a quarter of the final cost . And, since that patent license applies to every copy in use, it's one of the reasons why you are not allowed to freely copy and redistribute software such as Microsoft Windows.

Fedora, however, has a public promise to always be freely redistributable by anyone. That is why Fedora cannot include support for patented media formats - it would break this redistribution promise. This means that, out of the box, you can't directly play media files such as Windows Media, MPEG-4 video, or MP3 audio. Fedora supports open media formats such as Ogg Vorbis and Theora , which are freely implementable and usable by anyone without a patent license.

If you are in a location where these patents do not apply, you may have other options as well.

However given a choice, you should always opt to use free and non-patented open formats which often provide better quality.

What is bad about patented formats?

"Fine," you say. "I'll pay the fee -- what's so bad about using patented formats?"

Well, there are many problems with them.

No guarantee that your consumers actually will be able to read the data you're trying to produce. If you've reached this page, you've already experienced this -- by producing media in a patented format, you automatically limit your audience to whatever platforms the patent holder has licensed their software to.

No guarantee of being able to access your data forever. If you're using some software to view a patented media format, what happens if that software vendor goes out of business, or refuses to port their software to newer systems? You no longer have access to your data.

Note that this isn't even restricted to patented media formats -- the same applies to popular proprietary formats used for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, etc.